A preacher who viciously beat his wife for three years, including gouging her eye blind, has lost his fight against deportation.

Reti Falaniko, a preacher at the Penrose Assembly of God church in Auckland, pleaded guilty in 2010 to 11 offences of varying severity, all committed against his wife between January 2004 and May 2008.

Falaniko argued he should not have been deported because he had had a subcutaneous defibrillator – like a pacemaker – implanted in 2006 following a heart attack. He argued he could not get the pacemaker serviced in his native Samoa if there was a problem.

The Immigration and Protection Tribunal, which heard Falaniko’s appeal, said his violence against his wife began four months after they were married in October 2003.

Falaniko felt his wife “did not publicly give him the respect he felt ought to be accorded to his status as a preacher”.

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We are all hypocrites. The question is how honest we are about it.
In this case, the law should take its course. Which it has.

Tristanb

It is however quite typical for evil people to seek positions of power, and a position of power than requires little academic talent is religious ministry.

And it’s a great amount of power you have over your little congregation too. You know all their problems, they all give you money, they all respect you. And to qualify, you just have to be able to read and be a confident public speaker, and be able to tell a lie.

No argument from me about that. One of the reasons the reformed have the consistory and the session is to keep the minister accountable not only to fellow trained people (the consistory or assembly) but to lay people (the session).
Guy should be drummed out of the ministry… and I think the AoG do have some ability to discipline errant pastors.

Kimbo

“One of the reasons the reformed have the consistory and the session is
to keep the minister accountable not only to fellow trained people (the
consistory or assembly) but to lay people (the session)”.

Hmmm. My experience of consistory/presbytery and classis/session is that it ain’t necessarily so! Not that I’m a necessarily a Congregationalist, but in many cases, “Presbyter is but priest writ large”.

No matter what the system, it is dependent on the people who have responsibility making it work properly. And while pastors can run amok in an episcopalian system, they can also use bureaucratic red tape to obfuscate and avoid in the presbyterian system.

Lion_ess

While many may exhibit hypocritcal behaviour from time to time, we are not all hypocrites who take up preaching one thing, yet practicing another while empowered with a role of trust.

Travis Poulson

Farewell, all the best with the subcutaneous defibrillator.

Tristanb

Exactly. I bet we paid tens of thousands in surgery for this to reduce his change of cardiac arrest, and he tries to use it as a wedge to stay here.

I hope they publish what he has done here on the day he returns in Samoa.

Travis Poulson

In my books, child/woman abuse forfeits the rights to anything.

Gazzaw

I’ll be happy to kick in for a large pack of AA batteries to be handed to him at the airport.

Travis Poulson

Sorry Gazzaw, pretty sure batteries are prohibited items on flights. Maybe we could give him one of those wind up chargers, not sure what he’ll do when he falls asleep though ;)

Dave

Perhaps a solar power kit, plenty of sun in the islands as he lounges under a coconut palm!!

Mediaan

And the comment from his church was … ? Oh goodness me, we never noticed?

trisha

easy peasy..take the defibrillator back… then kick him out, wont need to be maintained then. men that hurt their women deserve all the grief they get.

Dave

His defibrillator was likely funded by NZ Taxpayers, I believe we are entitled to it back, or he can pay for it and take it with him. Service is his problem, but I hear DHL runs a marvelous courier service between the islands and here, am sure a skilled mate can remove it for him. And, maybe he should thought of that before taking his knuckles to a women.